Settle Down
by JustAJedi
Summary: Kitty Faye wasn't looking for trouble. Paul Lahote wasn't looking for a partner, especially not one so timid. They both learn to Settle Down. ( OC, but still good :) IMPRINT FIC )
1. Chapter 1

_'Yeah_

 _You are my fire_

 _The one desire_

 _Believe when I say_

 _I want it that way_

 _But we are two worlds apart_

 _Can't reach to your heart_

 _When you say_

 _That I want it that way_

 _Tell me why_

 _Ain't nothin' but a heartache_

 _Tell me why_

 _Ain't nothin' but a mistake_

 _Tell me why_

 _I never wanna hear you say_

 _I want it that way-'_

The Backstreet Boys were cut off by Katelyn's brother yanking her earphones out. She blinked open her eyes, startled,

"Hurry up!" Topher moaned impatiently, starting to tug her out of the car, "Mum says she won't open the door until you're here!"

"Okay, okay! I'm coming!" she got out of the car, winding her earphones around her iPod, and shoving it deep into her pocket. She raised her eyebrows at the house, it was bigger than any house she'd ever lived in. "How did we afford this?" she breathed. For a while now, the Faye family had been struggling with money. Her father had been fired from his long time job when the company closed down, and he had been looking for work everywhere, before their uncle decided to step in and help. Now he had entered into a partnership with their uncle, and they had opened a chain of small supermarkets. Her father had moved them all to La Push to work as store manager at a nearby supermarket. Of course Katelyn hadn't been altogether too happy with the sudden move but in true Kitty spirit she had not complained, and supported her father's decision.

She stood behind her family, and patted her father's hand as it rested across her shoulders. Her mum unlocked the door, and together, they stepped through. It was light and airy at the moment, but Kitty saw it was definitely going to get cold when the weather got worse than it was now. She left her family and explored the upstairs. There were two bedrooms upstairs, one with a large bed that she assumed was for her parents. She decided that she would leave the other room for Topher because he didn't really have a preference. She went downstairs and went to other end of the house, nearing the forest. There was a smaller bedroom there, with two large glass doors that operated as windows. Through the trees she could make out glimpses of some water and sand. She knew it was the beach she had seen from the upstairs windows, and she smiled. "Guys I call this room!" she yelled out.

"Sure, sweetie!"

"Whatever you want, sister of mine!"

She smiled. Despite being brother and sister, she and Topher were close, and she trusted him with almost everything. He was the only one that knew that she didn't really want to be here. They both shared the fear of going to a Native American dominated school on the reservation. They were both lightly tan with honey brown hair and with green eyes, and in Katelyn's case, freckles across the bridge of her nose. They were often mistaken as twins, but Topher was eight months older, Katelyn being born a month premature. Topher and Katelyn were both slender, but where Katelyn was small, Topher was tall. Even when he was 13, he was already taller than his mother and sister, but still a little shorter than his father. Luckily, he seemed to have stopped growing now.

In just a week, the second semester of the year would start. Right in the middle of the year. Great news for the school's gossipers, bad news for the siblings.

Katelyn bounced around her room, setting up her belongings and organizing her clothing. She played Yuna's album, Nocturnal, loud from the speakers she had set up first after digging through boxes. She flopped down on her bed as the sun began to set and her mother called her to the kitchen for dinner. She skipped down the hallway and into the kitchen where she spotted pizza boxes on the bench, and her brother already eating, smears of the tomato base on his cheeks. She frowned at him, "How did you even manage to get sauce there?" he shrugged,

"Just superior genes, I guess."

Their mother, Maria Faye, formerly Gould, was a thin woman with white blonde hair and pale skin. Her eyes were the same green as her children. She married Joseph Faye when she was 21, and perhaps the saying opposites attract really was true. Maria was sharp, organized and efficient to the point of being bossy. Joseph was laid-back, funny, and spontaneous, and dark haired and eyed, and with tan skin like his children. Kitty had inherited her mother's wavy hair, and Topher had their father's unruly straight locks.

Kitty ate her pizza slowly. She wasn't a massive fan of pizza, she found all the cheese too much. After dinner, she cleaned up the boxes and unloaded her box of baking goods. She had no eggs, and after the begging of Topher, who was raring for some of her 'after dinner cookies', she collected money from her mother and set out on her journey to the store that was on the main road her own street was off.

It was dark outside the house, but she pushed away the uneasiness of walking in an unfamiliar neighbourhood after dark, knowing that the people in the surrounding buildings would hear her scream if she did get in trouble. She entered the small store, not the one her father would be managing, and headed straight for the eggs, grabbing some milk as well. She headed up to the counter, where a boy with long hair and dark eyes was looking bored. He saw her, and shifted upright, smiling at her.

"New, huh?" he said brightly, flashing bright teeth. Kitty raised her eyebrows,

"Uh, yeah. How'd you know?" she passed him her items. He scanned them,

"It's a small place, La Push, you get to know all the faces pretty quickly." He winked, "A gorgeous new face like yours is hard to miss." Kitty felt herself blush, and looked down at the floor quickly.

"Thanks." She said, slightly flustered, and took the bag from him. She turned to go, but he called after her,

"Wait! What's your name?" he said, leaning over the counter slightly.

"Kitty Faye." She smiled at him, "what's yours?"

"Jacob, Jacob Black." He said eagerly, and in that moment, she realized that he was younger than her.

"I'll see you round, Jacob-Jacob." She walked out of the store, swinging the plastic bag happily. She skipped back home, and prepared the cookies for her family, but excused herself afterwards, taking her share up to her room. She was feeling surprisingly tired, and as soon as she had showered in her little en suite, she went immediately to sleep. There was a lot to do in the next couple of days before she went to school. She shuddered a little at the thought.

The next few days passed in a blur, and Kitty found herself on the eve of her first day of school in what seemed like no time at all. She placed her books and stationery neatly away in her backpack, and rifled through her wardrobe to find an outfit to wear. Worn blue skinny jeans, rolled up over old tan boots, with a grey sweater, maroon scarf, and her favourite army green parka over it all. She was on the verge of screaming, she was so nervous about going to the new school, so she went down the hall, pulled out ingredients, and began to bake. Her parents had gone to bed a while ago, so she didn't worry about them hearing her.

She wiped down the last bench at about 1:00, and left the kitchen silently, leaving trays of muffins and cookies out, cooling. She sighed. She smelt like baked goods, and she'd already had a shower. If she woke and found flour in her bed she would be extremely annoyed.

Topher had convinced their mother to drop them to school after their father had left earlier. It was lightly drizzling, and Kitty grabbed herself an umbrella, and tucked one in Topher's bag when he was brushing his teeth.

Kitty looked at herself in the mirror. She sighed. She was way too tired to bother with any makeup or hair wrangling. She grabbed her mess of hair, and piled it on top of her head, stabbing a few bobby pins into it to help it to stay put. She banged around a little while longer, waiting for Topher as she usually did. Finally she heard him clomping downstairs, Maria behind him, shooing him downstairs.

"Hurry up! Get in the car! You've made you and your sister late!" Topher shot straight out the door. Kitty chuckled to herself, and swung his bag over her arm and walked out after him. Her mother made a face at her, "What he would do without you, I have no idea."

"Here, Topher." Kitty passed her brother his bag from the backseat, and put her seatbelt on.

"Thanks, Kitty!" he said cheerfully. She passed him a banana and one of the chocolate muffins she had made last night, and he took them, "Thanks, Kitty!"

"One day, I swear… I _hope_ , you'll be looking after yourself." Kitty said exasperatedly. It had always been like this. If he was left to his own devices, she swore he would forget his head. He twisted in his seat and gave her a wide grin, chocolate covering his teeth. "Ew, Toph!" he laughed, and swallowed his mouthful.


	2. Chapter 2

The bell rang as they got out of the car, and they siblings hopped out, waving goodbye to their mother, and hurried up the steps. "I hate you. Now we have to walk into class with everyone looking at us!" Kitty hissed.

"Sorry!" Topher apologised, "It'll be fine. They'd stare either way." Kitty shook her head exasperatedly and stormed a little ahead. He caught up to her easily. She swore his legs were a million times longer than hers. They went into the reception and a woman with the same dark features as most of the residents. She looked up when she heard them, and her face split into a warm smile,

"Hello! You two must be…." She shuffled some papers, and pulled out two schedules, "Topher and Katelyn Faye?"

"That's us!" Topher said enthusiastically, and grabbed the papers, giving one to his sister, and inspecting it eagerly. "Could you please point us to our first class?" he smiled at her charmingly, and she directed them down the hallways.

It wasn't a very big school, thank goodness for that, Kitty thought, as they passed lockers and classrooms, until they reached the English class they had to endure. Kitty took a deep breath, and stepped inside, just behind Topher. She avoided looking at the other teens at the desks, and focused her attention on the balding teacher. "Hello, Mr, err, Jameson?" Topher said, squinting at the man.

"Ah yes. They told me you'd be coming. Mr and Miss Faye. Please take a seat." He looked at the assembled desks. "Mr Faye, please head to that empty desk, I'm sure Mr. Cameron will be re-joining the class after he's gotten over whatever _illness_ he's apparently contracted." Mr Jameson looked at Katelyn, "Miss Faye, please take a seat next to Mr Lahote. Mr Lahote, please raise your hand."

A russet skinned boy with thick black hair to his chin raised his arm nonchalantly, and winked, "I'm willing to raise _anything_ for you, babe." The class burst into laughter, Jameson reddened in annoyance, and Kitty blushed lightly, lowering her face and walking to the chair next to him.

"Mr Lahote! Respect!" Mr Jameson said angrily, Lahote shrugged. Kitty eyed him warily. He turned to her, looking her up and down,

"Huh. Not bad for a pale face." She furrowed her eyebrows,

"A what?" she asked softly,

"A paleface, an outsider like yourself." He clarified. "Paul Lahote, but you can call me anything you want, baby." He held out a hand, Kitty took it, still frowning slightly.

"Katelyn Faye." She said shortly, and turned round to face the front pointedly. He kept trying to talk to her, but she ignored him openly. She knew it probably wasn't the best idea to make an enemy on the first day, especially one that seemed to be popular, but she didn't care. He had embarrassed her, and then called her a paleface. Whatever that was.

It was finally their lunch, and Kitty struggled with her locker for a little while. She gave up, thumping her head against it when she thought no one was looking. Then a small hand appeared out of nowhere, and banged the top corner. It sprung open, and Kitty jumped back in shock. She turned to face her saviour. "Thank you, uh-"

"Kim Colloway." The other girl was taller than Kitty by an inch or two, and had the same russet skin tones as the rest of the student population. "You're Katelyn, right?" Kitty appraised her subtly. She looked nice enough, and she hadn't insulted her within two seconds of meeting her.

"Kitty. Everybody calls me Kitty." She offered, and the other girl smiled widely. Kitty got the feeling that not many people were jumping over themselves to be friends with Kim. Well, she would, she decided resolutely, and her smile mirrored Kim's. "Kim, do you mind walking me to lunch? I'm not too sure where anything is."

Kim's smile got even wider.

Kitty poked at her school issued lunch with a scrunched nose. "Not good enough for you, paleface?" Paul walked by with some other boys, but Paul towered over them. Kitty looked down at her food.

"Hey, don't worry about Paul. He's been a dick since he's had that growth spurt. He'll leave you alone soon enough." Kim said supportively, patting the girl's hand. Kitty sighed, but nodded.

She played with her food, turning it to a greyish mass. "I can _not_ eat this!" she exclaimed finally. Kim laughed, and passed her an apple. Kitty smiled thankfully. "I'll just chuck this in the trash." She looked for nearest bin. It was right next to Paul's table, she winced, but headed over anyway. She had almost got there when someone called her name,

"Kitty!" she turned to see her brother waving furiously, standing with 3 other boys. She smiled at him, and tried to keep walking.

Then suddenly she was falling face first towards the ground, she desperately thrust the tray away from her, as she tried to catch herself. She landed heavily on her stomach, groaning slightly. Some people were laughing already, then there was a chorus of 'oooooooohhh', and she looked up to see Paul standing up, shaking slightly, her ex-lasagne dripping from the back of his head. Her eyes flew open wide, and she quickly scrambled up off the ground, slipping over a little on the rest of the lasagne.

Paul turned to face her, and his face was so terrifying she let out a little squeak of fear. If the saying 'if looks could kill' was true, then she was dead a thousand times over. His face was downright murderous, and he started stalking towards her. He was shaking so hard, it looked like he was vibrating. "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! I WILL KILL YOU."

"I-I'm so s-sorry, I didn't mean-" she said shakily, but was interrupted,

"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT YOU'RE SORRY YOU LITTLE BITCH! YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN BE HERE! GO BACK TO WHATEVER HELL-HOLLE YOU CRAWLED FROM AND NEVER. COME. BACK." He bellowed, towering over her. He raised a hand as if to hit her, and she curled into herself. He was grabbed from behind by his friends, and they pulled him back trying to calm him, but he was bigger than all of them and shook them off. He came at her again, but then Topher was there, standing between the two of them.

"Back the fuck off bro!" he said warningly. Paul just growled, like actually growled deep in his throat, Topher looked at him confusedly, but shook his head slightly. He raised his fists, and although he was taller than any of Paul's friends, he was still shorter than Paul himself.

Then the crowd dispersed quickly.

A teacher stood beside a tall man, the man went right up to Paul, grabbed him by the arm and pulled him outside. The teacher, Mr. Lucca clapped his hands, and everyone returned to various seats around the room. Kitty remained paralysed. He had wanted to _kill_ her! She blinked away burning tears, and folded in to Topher's guiding arm, and sat back down next to Kim on their table. She shook slightly.

Kim stared at her with wide eyes, "Are you okay?" Kitty shook her head, a couple of tears trickling slowly down her cheeks. "I've- I've never seen him do anything like that before. It was like Jared before he got sick. Maybe they've got the same thing. God, I'm so sorry, Kitty. You probably won't come back will you…" she looked a little sad, and Kitty hastened to reassure her.

"No, I will be. I won't let that- that brute scare me off." She said resolutely. She huffed a breath, and wiped away the tears, and picked up the apple Kim had given her earlier, and took a big bite. She eyed Topher challengingly. He shook his head, and leaned back in his seat.

"I'm Topher, nice to meet you." He held out a hand to Kim, and she took it, smiling shyly.


	3. Chapter 3

When the Faye siblings got home, Kitty went straight to the kitchen and poured her frustrations and sadness out into the shortbread recipe. Then she went to her room, opened the back door and screamed into the forest. Feeling much calmer, she went back inside. Just as she closed the glass doors, it started to pour. "Good timing." She said humourlessly. She looked at her room, lit dimly by the grey light from outside. In the corner, her old acoustic guitar sat, a thin film of dust covering it from when it had been at her old house. She hadn't played in so long. Smiling, she sat down with it, and started to play again, for the first time in many years.

She ate dinner with her family, smiling and laughing, the memories of the disaster fading from her head. As she stood to get dessert, a long mournful howl spilt the air. Kitty's head went to the dark forest visible through the window. It had sounded a long way off. Other howls joined in. "Was that a wolf?" she asked softly, placing shortbread and milk in front of her family.

"Could be. It's not uncommon to find wolves in forests so close to people." Her father said, picking up his cookie and eating it whole.

"Yes, well, let's hope it doesn't get any closer to people." Her mother said, neatly nibbling the cookie. Kitty smiled to herself,

"I think they're beautiful. If they want to share the forest, let them." She said.

Kitty walked into school, head held high, but eyes wary. Kim called her over, and she joined her at the locker. "Hey, Kitty, where do you live?" she asked cheerfully, Kitty eyed her suspiciously,

"31 Coast Guard road." She said, "Why?"

"Well, my mum is friends with Mrs. Young, who's just moved from the Makah rez, to be near her sister, and she had a daughter whose one – Claire, and she totally needs a babysitter." They started walking to class, "She left her husband, and she didn't really have anywhere else to go, so she bought a house, and guess where it is?!"

"Coast Guard road?" Kitty said, a faint smile on her face from her friend's antics.

"Yes! And because she needs cash, she had to work a _lot_ , and I thought to myself, 'who needs a job and is new here, and could use some cred with the adults here?'" Kim looked at Kitty, beaming, "You! I told my mum, and she told Mrs. Young, and she said; 'anyone your daughter thinks is suitable will do fine.'"

"You told your mom about me?" Kitty asked curiously.

"Uh, yeah." Kim blushed under her russet colouring. "I realize how weird that is now."

"No! No, no. thank you! That's great!" she touched Kim's arm, "You've just saved this lazy-ass a whole lot of job hunting."

"I refuse to believe you're a lazy-ass!" Kim said playfully.

Kitty kept an eye out for the rest of the day, but Paul never showed.

And then the day after, and the day after that.

The whole week he wasn't at school, and Kitty went home on the Thursday of the next week, feeling at peace. The school had seemed to forget about the incident, and she had made a few new friends. Kim had come over for dinner a few times, and her parents had fallen in love with the shy girl.

Kitty went to school on Friday in high spirits.

She bounced into school, wearing a black and white polka dot dress, with sheer black tights and little tan boots, which matched the thin belt around her waist. She was excited to tell Kim that she had her first baby sitting session with Claire tonight. She saw Kim, leaning against her locker, a dumb struck smile on her face. "Hey, Kim!" when Kim didn't say anything, Kitty tapped her, "Whatcha looking at?"

Kim snapped out of her daze, "Huh? What?" Kitty raised her eyebrows, "Oh! Right… Jared's back." She said dreamily. Kitty laughed at her love struck friend.

"Oooh! Jared's back! Is he more handsome then he was before?" she giggled with her friend. Kim nodded enthusiastically, and the two girls surreptitiously turned to peek at the hulking mass of muscle that was Jared. Kitty's eyes widened. "Was he always this big?" she gasped.

Kim frowned, "No, not really. He had a massive growth spurt in the last couple of months, and now he's… well, he's…" she rested her hand on her chin, "Dreamy." She sighed. Jared turned at the words, and Kitty turned her head, giggling wildly. Kim however was frozen.

"Kim!" she hissed. "Don't stare at him!" Kim was completely entranced, and Kitty turned to see Jared staring at her open-mouthed. "What…?" Kitty furrowed her brows in confusion. Then Jared stood up. Kitty eyed him warily as he started making his way to their table in the corner. "Kim!" but it was too late. Jared sat down next to Kim.

"Hey, uh, Kate is it?" He asked, voice deeper than any other boys their age. Kim made a choking sound, and Kitty kicked her under the table.

"N-No. It's Kim." She said, completely star-struck. Jared blushed,

"Oh, my god. I'm so sorry, _Kim_." He said her name like it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever heard, and Kitty swore Kim swooned a little. "You sit next to me in trig right?" Kim nodded wordlessly. "Do you think, uh maybe sometime you could, um, tutor me?" he sounded so nervous that Kitty almost felt sorry for the massive boy – man. Kim continued to stare. Kitty kicked her again.

"Yes! Sorry, yeah, totally." She nodded vigorously. Jared's face spilt into a bright grin and Kim mirrored him. "Does tonight work for you?" she asked boldly, colouring as she waited for an answer.

Jared's smile grew even brighter. "Yeah. What time do you want me round?"

"Sevenish work?" Kim said, and he nodded.

"Okay, I'm _really_ sorry, but I've gotta go – I'll see you later, _Kim._ " He stood up, and with no explanation, just jogged out of the cafeteria.

"Okay. That may have been the weirdest thing that has ever happened." Kitty said, gazing wide eyed at Kim. Kim's mouth was ajar. Her chocolate eyes met Kitty's green. Then she squealed.

"What the _hell!_ I just got a date with _Jared_!" Kitty laughed with her friend. "Did you see him? Oh. My. God. I think I'm gonna faint."

"Now?" Kitty giggled, "I thought you were going to faint when he sat next to you!" Kim twisted happily in her seat.

"I am so happy I am going to die. Seriously." Kim's face fell for a second as she regarded Kitty. "Wait, we didn't have plans or anything right? I just blanked out when he said my _name_." she pretended to faint.

"No we didn't." Kitty shook her head, "I actually have my first baby sitting job with Rosemary, and Claire."

"Oh yeah!" Kim stood with her friend as the bell went. "Tell me how that goes." The girls embraced and headed to the last classes of the day. Kitty headed for the art rooms, which were disconnected from the main building. As she looked towards the forest she saw the outlines of three men. As her gaze fell on them, two of them ran back into the trees. One remained, but only for a second longer. She frowned, but pushed the weird incident from her mind.


	4. Chapter 4

Kitty stood in front of the mirror, brushing stray pieces of lint from her outfit. She wasn't sure why she was so nervous, it was just a babysitting job. She just felt the weird need to prove that she wasn't just a too-good pale face – thinking that she was above everyone, like Paul had said.

Kitty sighed. Why did she care what _Paul_ said?

"Come on, Kitty! You can do it!" she whispered at her reflection. "Phew. Okay. Mom! I'm ready to gooooo!" she yelled down the corridor.

"Alright, honey! Just let me get my keys!"

Kitty smiled one last time at her reflection, and gave herself the finger guns, backing out of the room.

Kitty rapped on the small – but pretty – weatherboard house. There was a faint cry of ' _coming!'_ and then the door swung open. A young woman, face older than it was by worry lines, was bouncing a crying child.

"Oh! You must be Katelyn – Or do you prefer Kitty, like Kim said?" Rosemary bounced Claire, looking at Kitty questioningly.

"I prefer Kitty, if that's okay." Kitty smiled. "Do you mind if I come inside?"

"Oh, yes! I'm so sorry," Rosemary stepped back, letting Kitty inside. Claire resumed her loud crying. "I'm just so scattered tonight!" her eyes flickered to her hallway clock, and her eyes widened. "And late! I'm so sorry, but I really do have to go! There's instructions on the envelope in the kitchen – and you've caught her on a bad night, so she's a bit irritable."

Claire was pushed into Kitty's arms, and then Rosemary was gone, in a cloud of perfume. Kitty took a breath, and looked at Claire, who had stopped crying and was looking at her in surprise. "Well, Claire. Just you and me now." Claire whimpered, and then threw her head back and released a loud howl, descending into tears again. Kitty's eyes widened in surprise, and she looked around until she found the kitchen, and sat Claire on the counter. "Hey! Hey, now. Don't cry!" at a loss, Kitty sought for something to calm Claire.

" _Feel the cold kiss your face by the riverbed_

 _Count the stones at your feet now_

 _Dig your toes in the sand_

 _Can you feel the beat of your heart as it slows down?"_

Claire had stopped the loud bawling, and was looking at Kitty curiously again. Kitty smiled, and kept singing.

" _Won't you fly with me_

 _Oh, save me_

 _Keep your young, brittle bones in the skin you love_

 _Keep them safe, keep them dry and hide_

 _Cause your lungs are designed to withstand the seed_

 _So they go, look away, breathe_

 _Put your faith in someone's hands_

 _Won't you fly with me_

 _Oh, save me."_

Claire was silent, and Kitty took the chance of picking her up again, and kept humming the tune of the sweet Meadowlark song. Claire relaxed into Kitty, as Kitty took the time to explore the house, and read the letter of instructions.

Dinner would be soon, and apparently there was food in the fridge. Kitty frowned as she looked at the gross looking once tinned mush. She looked at Claire who was blinking at her. "Ew! No thank you, am I right, Claire?"

Claire gurgled, and Kitty took that as an affirmative. She strapped Claire into her highchair, and pulled out carrots, peas, potatoes and some cold chicken.

She boiled it all down, and then mashed it all up, put a squirt of ketchup in it and gave it a mix. She ate a mouthful. "Hmmm. Not too shabby. If I'll eat it, then you'll eat it." When it was cool enough, she sat down with Claire and helped the young girl eat her dinner. Claire babbled senselessly, waving her hands around in-between mouthfuls, making Kitty laugh.

When Rosemary came back home, she was surprised to see both Claire fast asleep in her cot, and Kitty asleep in the chair next to her. A book was open on the floor, leading Rosemary to believe that she had been reading to Claire. So she had managed to settled Claire down.

A small smile split Rosemary's tired face, and she woke Kitty gently. The young woman twitched as she woke, and jumped as she realized that Rosemary was standing over her.

"Oh! Hello, Mrs. Young." She whispered, shooting Claire a wary look. "I'm sorry I fell asleep; I didn't realize the time."

"That's alright, Kitty. Thank you very much." Rosemary pressed the money into Kitty's hand and Kitty grinned broadly.

"Great! I'll see you tomorrow night." She waved goodbye to the woman after pressing a kiss to Claire's forehead. Kitty smiled to herself as she walked down the dark street to her house. She was feeling good about this babysitting job.


	5. Chapter 5

Saturdays were probably Kitty's favourite days. She didn't have to worry about school the next day, and she had a whole day to herself on this particular day, because her mom's job ran on Saturday, as did her dad's, and Topher had said he was trying out for a soccer team in Forks. So when Kitty got down stairs, the house was silent.

She took full advantage of it, and sang loudly as she prepared to go for a walk on the beach. She was really feeling the Dixie Chicks at the moment, despite not being a massive fan of country music. She bobbed her head, doing a strange little slide movement to her imaginary beat.

" _She needs, WIDE OPEN SPACES_!" she yelled loudly, before a loud howl made her jump. She put a hand to her chest, feeling her heart beating quickly through her fingers. "God. These wolves." She said quietly, and swung her small beach bag over her shoulder, with her books and towel in it, if she decided to sit on the sand. It was way too cold for swimming, so she wasn't even going to try.

Kitty locked her glass door-window things up behind her, and headed over the small bit of grass and jumped the low fence to get to the forest, and the beach through it. She kept her eyes on the small bit of water and sand she could see, to make sure she didn't get lost. It was darker than she had expected in the woods, and Kitty could freely admit how unnerving it was.

Every little wind rustling through the trees was making her jump, and every stick she crunched underfoot made her look around nervously. A low intake of breath that was most definitely not hers made her look around wildly. Then something shot past her, knocking her over, and sending her sprawling on the ground. Kitty gasped, scrabbling to get up, as she heard footsteps approaching her. She jumped up, and whirled, but saw nothing.

Gulping down a shaky breath, she looked around again, as a low chuckle floated out of nowhere. "H-hello?" she called, voice loud in the closed in quiet of the trees.

" _h-h-h-hello?_ "

A voice mocked her, and the faintest rustle behind her made her turn, and almost fall over again, as she came face to face with a pale skinned man, leering at her. "Hello, little darling." Kitty was entranced. He was hauntingly beautiful, with gorgeous features – almost childlike. But his eyes were scary – blood-red and unblinking. He smiled and leaned in closer to her, sniffing. Kitty flinched back. "Oh, don't be scared, pretty one! And you are pretty… almost tempted to bring you back to Jane and let her change you – if for nothing but the beauty you'll make."

"Wha-what the hell are you talking about?" Kitty squeaked, and gasped as he disappeared in a streak, and then an ice-cold hand was closing around her throat. She screamed, and jumped forward, out of his hold.

He just laughed. "Well, go on then, pretty one! I'll even give you a head start."

Kitty felt herself go cold at his insinuation. Tears welled up in her eyes as he faked jumping at her. She stumbled over her feet, trying to keep him in her sight, as she started running. He was soon out of her sight, but she couldn't find the beach or a way out to her house. "oh no, oh no, oh no…" she panted. "Help! Help me!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping someone, anyone would hear.

Then she was being thrown through the air. With a crack that made her shriek with pain, she hit a tree and dropped to the ground. She struggled to draw breath into her lungs. She looked up as she saw pale bare feet saunter towards her. He was tutting.

"Oh, pretty one! I said run, not yell for help!" he chuckled, shaking his head as he squatted next to her, and ran a cold finger down her face. "I forgive you. There's no one to help you anyway. Not in time-"

A loud, low growl reverberated around the copse of trees, and the man froze, eye widening further. "No…" he whispered, looking terrified. "Impossible…"

He turned slowly, not straightening from his crouch. From behind him, Kitty could just see three gigantic wolves staring – no, glaring – at the man. As he made to move, the black one growled. Kitty tried to breathe again, but at the sharp pain decided it would be better to stay still and content herself with shallow breathing. Because this was impossible.

She'd tripped and hit her head and she was dreaming.

Sudden movement from the man made her jump, as he broke into the fastest run. With another growl, the black one gave a little nod, and the dark brown wolf with odd grey fur around his eyes and the dark silver one – not as a big as the black wolf, but bigger than the brown – leapt forward and sprinted after the man.

The black wolf padded closer to her, and despite being sure that this was some weird concussion dream, Kitty flinched back, despite the sharp pain in her ribs. "please… please… just don't hurt me…" she whispered, holding up her hand. The black wolf made a whimpering sound, and lowered its head, blowing a gust of warm breath at her, making her close her eyes. The world flashed and throbbed around her when she reopened her eyes. "Definitely hit my head." She muttered, and allowed her body to relax and slump down. The black wolf hadn't moved, but she swore there was something like concern in its yellow eyes. "I know you shouldn't go to sleep when you've hit your head, Mr wolf, but I am seriously fighting the urge to close my eyes right now."

The wolf yipped and shook its head. Kitty laughed. "Okay now I'm just crazy. Can you hallucinate this vividly with a concussion?" then she heard footsteps, and she froze. "no, no, no! he's back! Please wolf, don't go…" but the wolf was slinking away.

Kitty felt her breathing increasing rapidly as the footsteps came closer and closer. Panic overwhelmed her, making her vision blurry, as both the lack of oxygen, head wound, and the pain in her ribs made her body shut down. Blackness crept into her sight, obscuring a head and shoulders in her eyes. There was a loud gasp, and a muttered expletive from above her, and then Kitty was lost to the world, as something began shaking her slightly.

"Kitty! Hey, honey, wake up for me!"

Kitty groaned as the worried voices of her parents bounced around painfully in her skull.

"oh, my baby! We were so worried!" she blinked open her eyes at her mother's tearful admission, and found her family sitting around her. Topher was watching her – eyes wide and worried. Her mom and dad were openly crying. "how are you feeling, honey?" her mom stroked her face gently, and Kitty frowned.

"I-I'm fine, I think… what happened?" all three sat back.

"What do you mean? Can't you remember?" Topher grabbed her hand anxiously, and she shook her head, smiling reassuringly.

"No! no I remember fine – but it couldn't be real what I saw. I thought I was thrown across and into the tree by a red-eyed man, and then there were giant wolves-"

Her heart monitor was beeping loudly as she remembered what she had thought had happened… the panic was real, but everything else. Her family exchanged looks, and Topher squeezed her hand as the door opened and a doctor came in, smiling.

"Hello there, Katelyn!" he came and examined her. "It seems that you've slept off most of your concussion – under supervision of course. You've also fractured a rib, so I'll be giving you pain medication for that and for any headaches because of your concussion. You're a bit bruised but I'm not worried so much about that. You need to take it very easy, stay in bed for the rest of this Sunday, and then you should be able to go to school on Monday – but no stress, no sports, and _no_ scares. Got it?" Kitty nodded, and the doctor looked at her parents, "I would recommend just having the teachers keep an eye on her – if she's experiencing much pain, then I'd just keep her at home, okay?"

Kitty's parents nodded eagerly. "I can keep an eye on her at school." Topher said solemnly, and gave Kitty a smile. Kitty smiled back sleepily. Her IV was trickling something numbing into her, and she was struggling to stay awake. She leant back into her pillows, and let her eyes slide shut. She was discharged later in the evening after a panicked visit from Kim.


	6. Chapter 6

Kitty woke up early the next morning in her own bed. She wished she hadn't. A pounding pain, both from her ribs, and her head was making her dizzy. She reached for the little pill bottle on her bedside table, and swallowed two dry, and waited a little until she felt it abate.

Slowly, she sat up, wincing, and shuffled for her shower, stripping and letting cold water soothe her head further. But her ribs still ached – even more so at the cold. She sighed, but decided to bless her early wake up, as it gave her time to get dressed, struggling as she was to move.

She knew if she asked, she could stay home, but she didn't think she could stand another day of bed rest. Two had been more than enough for her. Her eyes flickered to the forest visible behind the glass, and she shivered as those strange images rose, unbidden. She was on the verge of panic again, but she shook her head.

"No. Calm down, Kitty. It was just your imagination. Besides, the wolves weren't that bad, were they? That big black one made sure you were okay." She smiled to herself, picturing Mr. Wolf, as large as her imagination had made him. She looked out into the trees again, and her eyes widened as a large dark shape moved quickly past, obscuring the beach for a second. She rubbed her eyes and looked again. "See? Nothing. Now you're just being silly."

Kitty watched as Topher bounced ahead of her, before realizing she was still lagging behind. He turned around, a guilty look on his face. "Sorry, Kit-Kat." He reached her side, and looped her arm with his, being careful not to brush her side.

Kitty smiled at him tiredly. "It's fine, Toph. We have English first." Sudden realization filled her, and she slumped back. "What if Paul's there?"

Topher scowled. "Just sit next to me. I don't care what Jameson says – I don't want you near him."

"Don't worry, Toph. I don't want to be near him either." She smiled suddenly. "we can just say the doctor said you have to look after me." Topher grinned wickedly.

"Amazing! Great plan, Kit-Kat."

Mr. Jameson eyed the two siblings as they walked in together. "Ah. Miss Faye. I'm _so_ glad to see that you have in fact survived your ordeal. Do not assume this excuses you from the reading – I still expect the summary. You too, Mr. Faye."

Topher's mouth fell open in disbelief. "Are you serious, sir?!" he stepped forward, and gestured at Kitty. "She's been in hospital all weekend, and you expect her to have done the reading?"

Kitty brushed his arm. "It's fine, Toph." She directed her speech to Mr. Jameson. "I'm sorry sir, I didn't actually do the reading, but if it's okay with you, I can do it tonight?" she said hopefully. Jameson regarded her.

"No. it's not okay. Detention – for both of you – unless you have in fact done the reading, Mr. Faye?" his beady eyes focussed on the sheet of paper in Topher's left hand. Scowling, Topher shoved a piece of paper with his summary on it at him. "Excellent. Miss Faye, I'll see you straight after school." There was a low growl from behind them all, and Kitty turned, locking eyes with an irate looking Paul. She gulped at the murderous look in his eyes, and turned away. "Did you have something to say, Mr. Lahote?" Jameson asked, pursing his lips.

Kitty peeked from behind Topher, and watched as Paul shuddered slightly, looking at Jameson furiously. "Yes." He ground out. Jameson raised an eyebrow, waiting. The whole class was looking at Paul, expectantly – almost as if expecting him to shout at Kitty again. Jared was half out of his chair, a worried look on his face. "Fuck you and your stupid summary." Paul said finally, smirking defiantly. Jameson's mouth fell open.

"Detention! Detention for you Mr. Lahote. I'll see you after school as well." Jameson said shrilly. Topher barked a surprised laugh, as did half of the class. Jared relaxed back into his seat, and Kitty just watched Paul wide eyed. He met her gaze, and winked at her. Kitty frowned instantly, and ducked her gaze. "Take your seats!" Kitty looked at Topher desperately, seeing that there were no desks with two seats. Topher bit his lip thinking, and as Jameson turned to write something on the board, he slid quickly into the seat next to Paul, and nodded Kitty towards the seat next to Jared.

Both Paul and Jared were wearing identical confused expressions, but Kitty ignored them, and slid in quietly next to Jared. She was almost as uneasy with Jared, as he was almost as big as Paul, and she knew that they hung out together now. But she knew that Kim and Jared hung out, so she relaxed a little.

"Hey there." Kitty jumped at Jared's voice, and looked over at him quickly. He was looking at her.

"Um, hi." She said quietly, so that she didn't draw Jameson's attention. He frowned at something past her.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, voice low and quieter than his initial start. Kitty looked at him again, frowning slightly. "You know – after Saturday?"

Kitty's eyebrows quirked in confusion. "how did you know that it was Saturday?" Jared looked sacred suddenly, but she sighed. "Did Kim tell you?"

Jared breathed a relieved sigh, looking behind her for a second. "Oh. Yeah, yeah, she did." He raised his eyebrows, "So how are you feeling, then?" his eyes darted past her, and she turned to see what he was looking at. She swallowed nervously, as she caught the heated gaze Paul was searing her with. She looked away quickly, and smiled nervously at Jared.

"I'm, um, I'm alright. Just a bit sore walking around. And loud noises are not good right now." She said softly. That was also part of the reason she was relaxing. Compared to the majority of people in the corridors, his voice was low and quiet, not aggravating her headache.

Jared nodded, smiling brightly, and she flushed – seeing exactly what Kim saw. "that's great to hear. We're – uh, I mean, _I'm_ glad that you're feeling better than before." Kitty felt herself smile back slightly.

"Miss Faye! Mr Cameron! Face the front and pay attention or you'll be in for double detention!" Kitty winced as Jameson's loud high pitched voice made her head pound. Jared smiled sympathetically.

Kitty could feel Paul's burning gaze the whole double period, and although she wanted to turn and look at him for some reason – she resisted, knowing he was probably plotting how best to hurt her in detention.


	7. Chapter 7

To her surprise, Jared followed her to her locker – but once she saw Kim's eager face, she wasn't so confused. She could tell that he had a real thing for her, as he had been questioning her about Kim. She let Kim hug her gingerly around the neck, and then stepped back to let the two lovebirds talk. Someone clearing their throat right behind her, made her turn, a bright smile on her face – expecting Topher.

But she found herself looking right into the middle of a large chest, straining against a thin cotton shirt. She looked up slowly, smile fading as she realized exactly who she was looking at. Paul was watching her eagerly and intently. Kitty shrunk back quickly against her locker, whimpering as the impact jolted her ribs.

Paul's face instantly shifted to worry, and he moved closer, "Are you okay? Where does it hurt?" Kitty watched him with wide eyes as he put out his hands to grab her. She shook her head, and darted sideways.

"Don't-" she started, but stopped herself as she saw Paul's heartbroken face. "W-what do you want? Another apology? I'm sorry, I really am. I should've been watching where I was going-"

"What? No, no. Stop." Paul was looking suddenly angry. "Don't apologize."

"But I thought-"

"NO. Just stop." Paul said through gritted teeth. Kitty flinched back, his loud voice unexpectedly making a flare of pain burst in her head. His eyes flashed, "And stop doing that! I'm not going to hurt you, god!" But Kitty wasn't so sure. He was looking distinctly angry, and even shaking slightly. He took a step closer, and she let out a soft cry of fear.

Instantly, Jared was there, putting a hand firmly on Paul's chest. "Let's all just take a step back. Why don't you two go get lunch. I'll meet you there, Kim." Kim was suddenly at Kitty's side, and gently dragged her away. Her eyes remained locked with Paul's, confused at the horror and anger there. Jared was whispering something into his ear, and Paul finally stopped looking at her, dragging his gaze away and looking at Jared, he nodded, and then turned – running out of the school.

Kitty faced the front, and ignored Kim's worried gaze.

Kitty waited for Kim to get her lunch, watching the grey sky through one of the cafeteria windows absently. She couldn't stop worrying about what Paul was going to do when there was no-one there to stop him.

"Hey, Kit-Kat." She looked up to see Topher next to Kim, grinning. They both took a seat on either side of her. His face dropped as he took in her unsettled pout. "What happened? Did Paul do something? Should I kick his ass?"

There was a laugh, and Kitty looked up from her sandwich to see Jared gracefully swinging his long legs under the table and sitting down. "I'd like to see you try, T-man."

Topher narrowed his eyes. "Don't think I could take him?" he flexed his biceps, and whilst they weren't small, Kitty's quick glance at Jared's arms, and her remembrance of Paul's physique made her very sure her brother would get crushed. He smiled suddenly. "Look at these babies! They put your bowling balls to shame, J-C."

"Listen, whilst your English and soccer skills are mad, maybe leave the fighting to the big boys." Jared said teasingly, and Kitty smiled. She was glad that Topher had made friends with Jared, so that the four of them could hang out comfortably. Kim nudged her, and Kitty gasped as she brushed her rib.

Kim paled. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" Kitty smiled tightly, letting her know it was okay, "I just wanted to know what you were going to do about Claire and Rosemary?"

Kitty's face fell. "Oh no! I was supposed to babysit Claire on Saturday night. I feel so bad."

Topher shook his head, "I'm sure that Rosemary understood. Besides, don't you have babysitting tonight anyway? You can make it up to her then." Kitty nodded,

"I guess you're right."

"I'm always right, Kit-Kat. Now take your medicine." Topher slid her two pain pills he'd pulled out of his pocket.

"Thanks, Toph." Kitty said, smiling. She accepted Jared's water with a grateful smile, and swallowed them down, sighing as she could feel the instant difference. "So much better…"

Kitty got through the rest of her day easily enough, because on Mondays, the only classes she had with Paul was the double English. She had Kim last period in her economics, and waved goodbye to her friend sorrowfully as she made her way slowly over to Jameson's classroom, trepidation filling her with every step.

She knocked on the door, and entered. Paul was already leaning against one of the desks, and his face lit up as they made eye contact. He was looking oddly relaxed, and the smirk that slid across his face was distinctively less creepy the others she'd seen.

"Finally, Miss Faye. I want you two in the storeroom, re-shelving and organizing the supplies. They have to all be checked off this list. I want it all done to my satisfaction by 5:30, otherwise you'll be back again tomorrow." Kitty nodded. It sounded fair enough. She followed the teacher to the small storeroom in-between the two classrooms, clutching the notepad with the supply list on it. She gulped as she realized she was going to be in close quarters with Paul.

She stepped in first, and her jaw dropped. "Oh no." she said quietly. The sensation of heat at her back made her aware that Paul was standing behind her.

He growled at the sight of the storeroom. It looked like a bomb had gone off, filled with school supplies. The shelves reached to the low ceiling, higher than Kitty could even hope to reach, and there was barely a space in the room where the floor was clear. They both looked back at Jameson, who gave them an evil smile, then waved his hands as if to say 'get on with it.'


	8. Chapter 8

She stepped in slowly, painfully aware of Paul shadowing her closely. She winced as she bent over, trying to upright a chair that was lying randomly on its side. She must have made some sound of discomfort, because a long arm was suddenly reaching for the chair as well, and she gasped as their skin touched. He was hot! Like, burning up.

Without meaning to, she flinched back and away from his hot skin, ending up pressed against his front. She was very still for a second, and she felt his breath catch. "Uh, sorry." She whispered and slowly stepped forward again, under the guise of examining a bucket of pens spilled across one of the shelves.

"What's the plan?" Paul's voice was rough and she looked at him quickly. Mistake. He was looking at her, eyes gleaming with something she couldn't recognize. She cleared her throat, and looked down the long list.

"I think we should try and find everything on the list, and then wipe down the shelves, and then start putting it all back on." She said quietly. "is that okay?"

"Yeah!" his enthusiastic reply was unexpected, and loud in the small room, and she twitched as it hurt her sensitive head. "I mean, yeah," he lowered his volume, and Kitty sighed gratefully, "That sounds like a good plan."

She shot him a nervous look, "Did you want to start with finding all the notebooks, and I'll find all the pens and pencils." He nodded, and immediately grabbed a few notebooks he could see. Kitty swallowed and began gathering up the pens and pencils into the large white bucket.

"Check!" Kitty said excitedly, as she checked off her third lot of items. "Done with all the different kinds of pens."

Paul watched her with an amused smirk playing on his lips. "You are getting way too into organizing this." Kitty's face and gaze dropped. "But it's cute-" he began quickly, and Kitty looked up in shock, and he stopped himself. "I mean it's funny." He said roughly, and snatched the list from her, turning away quickly. Kitty lowered her gaze again, and moved away from his hulking form, picking up a bunch of paper from the floor. As she straightened – too quickly, her head throbbed so painfully that her vision went white.

She yelped, and went to fall backwards.

Two hot, hot hands secured her under her elbows, keeping her upright. Breathing slowly, Kitty looked up into Paul's worried face. "Are you okay?" he asked softly. Kitty was about to nod, when another wave of pain washed over her, and she shook her head. "Where does it hurt?" he sat her down in the chair, and crouched in front of her, clutching her hands in his large hot ones.

Kitty shook her head slightly. "My – ah! – my head… it's killing me." She gritted out, trying to stop the embarrassing tears from welling up in her eyes. Paul looked between her eyes frantically.

"Where's your pain meds?" Kitty would have asked how he knew that she had them, but instead just pointed to her bag in the corner of the room. He darted over and pulled them out, spilling two into his palm, and handing them to her quickly. Then he growled. "Sorry, I forgot – do you need water?"

He was halfway out of the room without waiting for an answer, when Kitty downed them. "I'm fine, thank you." She said, more than a little confused. Why was he being so nice?

"Are you sure?" Paul hovered uncertainly above her. She nodded,

"Yes. I just need to sit for a second, then I can get back to work."

He shook his head violently. "Nuh uh. You are not moving from that chair." Kitty scowled at him.

"Really? Now you're telling me what to do?" she snapped. Why was he so confusing? One second he was ready to snap her head off, then he was looking after her, and the next he was expecting her to just follow his instructions? What was his _deal?_

Paul looked taken aback for a second, before he narrowed his eyes and drew himself up to his full height, looming over her. "I. Said. Sit. _Down."_ He growled. Kitty instantly recoiled, ducking her gaze and trying to look like a smaller target. She heard him curse under his breath, and then he crouched down again. "Hey. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you-"

"Well you did! And you have done ever since we've met!" Kitty said, feeling attacked. "I tripped and got a little bit of lasagne on the back of your head, and you were ready to _kill_ me! You were going to hit me – a stranger! And then you kept glaring at me all day, and then you almost smash me in the corridor at recess, and now you're trying to make me do what you want me to do – by _scaring_ me!"

Kitty hated bullies, and she hated abusers. Her brother had been terribly bullied at their last school, for being too tall and too skinny and not smart enough. He'd been picked on, and intimidated, and there was even a girl who pretended to like him, and then humiliated him. He had been brought down so low, that he had considered doing some terrible things.

It had been one of the most terrifying moments of Kitty's life – watching from the sidelines, unable to do anything, because Topher didn't want her being hurt – and she would've been. She was smaller than all of them, and at their old school things had been settled physically.

"I hate bullies. And I hate people who think it's okay to take what they want, and do what they want without consequences or thought about others." Kitty told him defiantly. "You're a womanizer and a bully – don't think I haven't heard exactly what you've done to people before me." She stood, and pushed past his frozen form. She checked the time. 5:32. Topher had sent a text saying that he and mom were waiting in the car.

She took a deep breath; "You've hurt me, and I'm sick of being the poor little victimized new girl. I know I'm timid, and shy, and I let people walk all over me – but not you. Because you're so much bigger than me, physically and socially, and you could squash me like a bug with one hand – so pick on someone your own size. I'm leaving now. _I don't want you to talk to me, or go near me ever again."_

With that, Kitty reached the end of her speech – and her bravery, and before Paul could do something – she didn't know what – she fled the tiny storeroom, moving as fast as her ribs would allow her. She felt guilty and frightened tears well up in her eyes.

Because, even despite her speech being well deserved, she hated yelling at people – and that was probably the longest angry thing she'd ever said.


	9. Chapter 9

"Hey, what's wrong, Kit-Kat?" Topher met her eyes in the rear-view mirror, frowning worriedly at her tears.

"No-nothing. I don't want to talk about it." She said quietly, wiping away her tears. Her mother looked at her over her shoulder.

"Baby, I'm always here for you to talk to, you know that."

Kitty smiled gratefully, but shook her head, "Really guys, it's nothing. I'll be fine by the time we get to Rosemary's."

"If you're sure, sis…" Topher said. Kitty nodded, pulling out a tissue and blotting her face.

Kitty rapped on Rosemary's door, and the caramel coloured woman answered immediately. "Hello, Kitty! I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Thanks, Rosemary. I'm sorry for not letting you know on Saturday…"

Rosemary waved her hands. "Totally understandable. Lucky for everyone, I actually got a surprise night off." Kitty smiled. "Now, Claire's just in her cot, she was napping, but you're here just in time for dinner – so if you're set, I'm going to head."

"I'm great, Rosemary! I'll see you later." With a last wave goodbye, Rosemary ran out the door. Kitty sighed, and shut the front door, but as she did so, a loud howl echoed out from the forest, chilling, and raising the hair on the back of Kitty's neck. She pursed her lips worriedly, and shut and locked the door.

There was a wail from Claire's room, and she hurried in, picking Claire up, wincing at the twinge from her ribs. What she really wanted was a heat pack. She dumped Claire into her highchair. She grunted, and rooted through various cupboards and found none. "Crap." She pouted, turning to Claire and pulling a face that made the young girl giggle. Kitty's lips twitched up into a smile in response, and she strapped Claire in fully. "Dinner time, Claire-Bear?"

"ibber ime?" Claire babbled, and Kitty laughed excitedly.

"Yes, dinner time!" she blew a raspberry on Claire's cheek. "You'll be talking early, Claire, I can just tell!" she moved slowly, cooking up some soft mincemeat and mashed potatoes for Claire, and feeding her, babbling back and forth. Claire was getting good at mimicking the sounds Kitty made, even if they weren't actual words yet.

Soon, Clair started getting agitated, and after changing her nappy, and trying to put her to bed, Kitty took her into the living room, and balanced her on her lap. "I think you need a song, hmm?"

" _Who doesn't know what I'm talking about_

 _Who's never left home, who's never struck out_

 _To find a dream and a life of their own_

 _A place in the clouds, a foundation of stone_

 _Many precede and many will follow_

 _A young girl's dreams no longer hollow_

 _It takes the shape of a place out west_

 _But what it holds for her, she hasn't yet guessed_

 _She needs wide open spaces_

 _Room to make her big mistakes_

 _She needs new faces_

 _She knows the high stakes…"_

Kitty stopped at Claire's blissed out face, and slowly blinking eyes. "Bed?"

"Ed?" Claire said lazily back, grinning her gummy smile. Kitty smiled back, and stood slowly, groaning at the pain in her ribs and head.

"Ah. Kitty needs bed as well, Claire-Bear."

She tucked Claire in and turned off the light, leaving the room silently.

She settled herself on the couch, and tried to breathe deeply and slowly, listening for noises in the other room.

Another howl echoed outside the house, and she flinched. It sounded close. She resisted the urge to get up to go close the curtains. It sounded again, low and mournful. She shivered.

Kitty pocketed the crisp money from Rosemary, and stepped out into the chilly air. It was pitch black across the road, where the forest stretched further than she could see. She ignored the prickling feeling of being watched, and tried to hurry home. She rapped anxiously on her front door, feeling eyes on her even now. She shot a look behind her, at the forest that wrapped around her house, it being the last on the end of their dead-end street. She froze as she saw two pinpricks of light, like eyes, focussed on her from a few feet behind the tree line.

Her door opened and she jumped. "Are you alright, sweetie?" her dad stood there, looking confusedly at her jumpy reaction.

She nodded, and pushed her way quickly inside, sighing with relief as the door shut. "Just tired, daddy." He nodded, smiling as he pecked her on the cheek.

"Well, goodnight, sweetie. Sleep well."

She beamed at his as she shut her bedroom door down the hall, smile dropping as soon as she was out of sight. She crossed to her large window/doors, and drew the blinds quickly, glimpsing the two points of light again. Kitty was beginning to regret choosing this room.

She took a deep steadying breath, trying to lower her heartrate. "It's okay, Kitty. Just breathe, and relax. Take your pills and then go to sleep, you can just have a shower in the morning." She gave herself a little pep talk. Satisfied that she wasn't going to panic unnecessarily, she flicked on her lamp, and she kicked off her shoes, and struggled with her jeans before finally working out how to get them off without hurting herself too much.

Paul was going to explode – her pain, her fear, her anger, her _words –_ they were bouncing around in his skull, and he'd never felt more low in his life.

Taking ten deep breaths, he placed his hands on his knees, trying to calm himself like Sam had taught him.

" _You were ready to kill me!"_

Paul growled, throwing his head to the side.

" _You're a womanizer and a bully…"_

He was shaking, he felt like his edges were blurring.

" _You've hurt me…"_

Paul whimpered, and before he changed in the tiny storeroom, he sprinted out, and into the trees, shivering and shuddering and then he split into his other self.

" ** _I don't want you to talk to me, or go near me ever again…"_**

 **Oh my god, Paul! What happened, what did you do?**

Jared's voice burst into his consciousness, but all he could was replay the conversation, replay her hurt and anger _at him,_ over and over. His anguish spilled over and he howled miserably and loudly, turning his face to heavens.

 **I'm sure it'll blow over, Paul, just you wait and see-**

No. How the hell could this just _disappear_? I _hurt_ her, and now she never wants to see me again.

Paul cut off Jared's worried optimism, and let himself collapse onto the cool earth.

 _What's going on?! Paul, are you hurt? You- oh, no._

Sam caught up quickly, and instantly, he was transmitting sympathy and disapproval.

 _That was stupid, Paul. This won't be easy to forgive…_

Tell me something I don't fucking know.

Paul hissed angrily, feeling like his whole world was burning.

Why did I Imprint on her? She doesn't- she can't- she's just so-

 _Perfect. She's perfect for you, that's why. You have to know her, love her –_

I _know._ I do! That's the problem! She hates me now, and there's nothing I can do- she doesn't want me near her-

 **Do you want me to talk to her-?**

Paul's mind instantly supplied images of Jared and Katelyn together, and then _together._ He snarled, and Jared mentally recoiled.

 **No! no! God, no! I would never- and I have Kim…**

The connection was flooded with images of the shy girl, pushing her glasses up, smiling, writing, laughing, flipping her hair back-

Cut it out.

 **Sorry.**

Sam? Please… I don't know what to do… I feel like I'm dying… she hates me…

Paul hated this. He knew that there was no rational reason to be feeling like his insides were being twisted over some stranger of a girl, but his wolf, and his _soul_ – they were screaming for her… it was terrifying. He wanted her, to love her, for her to love him.

 _I'm sorry, Paul. I'm not- I'm not actually sure. You know how long it took Emily to forgive me… but this is different. You've mentally and emotionally hurt her._

 **Give her time.**

 _Yeah. That's the best I got._

But I _need_ her… 

_Then just go and run patrol around her house – but for god sake, don't scare her!_

She can't see me either,

Paul was already sprinting hard after the sweet scent of Katelyn.

I don't want her to get even more upset-

 _Okay! Just do what you want, but just be back home at a reasonable hour – your mom is already suspicious-_

Yeah, whatever.

Paul watched anxiously as she walked home alone, shivering slightly, and fighting the urge to run and surround her with his furry warmth. No. He needed to stay back.

Then she turned and looked right into his eyes. He shrunk back further, but found himself getting lost in her light green eyes, so expressive, unlike the first time he had really _seen_ her.

That had been the scariest moment of his life.

She had been slipping into unconsciousness when he and Jared had made it back into the clearing, and at first all that had registered as he recognized her, was guilt for his outburst right before he had changed. Then he had made it to her side at Sam's silent request, and had lifted her slightly, to check she was still breathing, and her unfocussed eyes had met his, and he had been lost.

It had been so terrifying to feel himself losing his grip on _everything_ , to be drifting, and then all of a sudden, he had been locked on her – and he had felt an unexplainable connection to the unconscious girl he was supporting, and then fear came crashing down onto him as he realized that she wasn't moving – and that she had almost just been killed – and oh god what if she died now? – where was the closest hospital – why was she so limp, so light in his arms as he ran faster than he ever had – Jared shouting after him…

He whimpered, remembering the horrifying ordeal.

The snap of her blinds closing made him refocus, and then her lamp flicked on, and her silhouette was projected on the glowing blinds. His eyes widened, as he realized what she was doing. Without meaning to, he was rising to his feet, and padding slowly forward. To his _mate,_ his _imprint,_ as her delicate body was exposed to him – in shadow – but it was enough. He gave a strangled yelp, and turned tail, needing to fins some cold river to jump into.


	10. Chapter 10

Kitty woke up, after the worst night of her life – she had been tossing and turning – pain from her head and ribs plaguing her, as well as disturbing visions of red eyed men, and giant wolves, yelping in pain as they died.

She swallowed two of her pills dry, and got in the shower, leaving cold to soothe her head, despite the ache in her ribs. She could definitely tell that her head was getting better though, and she was thankful for that much – so she just hoped the cold water would be enough to speed it along.

But god, she hated the cold.

* * *

Kitty walked into school uneasily, unsure whether she really wanted to face Paul, after yesterday's outburst. But she knew, no matter what, that she'd see him to do the stupid detention for Jameson.

She had English with him third period, and science fourth, but strangely enough he wasn't there.

Kitty allowed herself a private smile when she considered that she had maybe scared the big, bad Paul off. Then she felt instantly guilty, because that was the exact behaviour she condemned him for.

Finally, she shuffled into Jameson's classroom, but he just waved her off. "Mr. Lahote came in at recess and lunch to finish it – I'm satisfied. You go on now."

Kitty frowned as she left the school grounds, flagging down Topher before he drove off – he really did need to slow down, considering he still wasn't getting his licence for another six months at least.

* * *

Kitty picked up her ringing phone. "he-llo?" she chirped.

" _Hey, Kitty! What're you up to on Saturday night?"_

Kitty smiled at Kim's eager voice. "Well, Rosemary said she only needed me Friday night this week, so… nothing!"

Kim squealed excitedly. " _Ohmigod! That's so great! Jared invited me to this tribal bonfire thingy as his_ _ **date**_ _. It's with a bunch of other kids and their families, kind of a ritual really – but I figure that I may as well invite you and Topher, considering you guys are new and have never been to one."_

"Kimmy! You're rambling!" Kitty laughed. "But that sounds amazing! I'll totally come, and I'll make Topher come too! But you have to tell me everything that Jared said, and _how_ he said it!"

* * *

Kitty didn't see Paul the whole week, and even though she was glad – some strange part of her was worried. What if he was sick again, like had been before? What if he was really bad, now? And the last thing she'd ever say to him was that angry rant.

Kitty bit her thumb anxiously, staring sightlessly into the forest outside her window. The sun was soon to set and Kim was coming with Jared to pick her and Topher up. She _was_ getting pumped for the bonfire though.

Apparently, there was going to be a separate bonfire away from the main one for all the high school kids that were coming, and that was where she and Kim were going to 'hang' as Kim put it. It was kind of Kitty's first party thing, so she had tried a little with her general appearance.

She had a pair of skinny jeans that she had bought without anyone's guidance – so she wasn't totally sure that they looked good, but she didn't care. She had rolled them up a few times over some dark red doc martens that gave her an inch of height, rounding her up to 5"2 nicely. She had layered a same coloured red collared shirt under a cream sweater, putting on her greenish jacket with its hood. She could foresee herself getting unreasonably cold, compared to the La Push natives, so she had slipped on a pair of gloves and large fuzzy socks poked out of her boots.

Mascara darkened and lengthened her lashes further, and made her eyes pop – according to her mom anyway. She herself had decided to use some tinted gloss to colour her lips a little, because when she got cold, they paled.

She thought she looked nice.

"Why are you wearing makeup?" Topher's voice from her doorway made her turn to face his narrowed eyed gaze, "Are you meeting someone there?"

Kitty pouted. "Is it really noticeable? I just wanted to look nice for tonight." She turned to the mirror, ready to wipe it off, but Topher hurried across and stayed her hand.

"No! you look great – I was just wondering. It's a change. But not a bad one." He smiled earnestly, and Kitty beamed back, as a horn sounded. They both perked up. "Kim! Jared!" Topher cried, running excitedly for the door.

Kitty giggled, and followed at a steadier pace.

"Have fun, guys!" She waved at her mom and dad poking their heads out from the kitchen, "be back home before 1:00!"

Kitty laughed, "I doubt we'll be out that late!

* * *

Kim was bouncing excitedly, Topher mirroring her actions in the seat directly behind her.

"Come on, Kitty!" they chorused, and Jared chuckled.

"Yeah, come on, Kitty. They're about to pop!" Kitty stuck her tongue out at Jared jokingly, and swung the car door shut. "Geeze, Kitty, do you have enough layers?" Jared raised his eyebrows at her in the mirror.

"Shush." Kitty scowled playfully, "I get cold – and it gets cold at night! Especially on the beach!"

"Okay, okay!" Jared threw a hand up, "So you'll just have to find someone to keep you warm…" he winked, and Kim and Topher 'oooooohed!' loudly, making Kitty roll her eyes and look out the window.

* * *

Jared and Kim flanked her and Topher as they made their way over to the circle of adults, elders and young children. Kitty looked about for Rosemary or Claire but she could see that they were both sadly absent. Jared looped his arm around Topher's shoulders as they reached two men, who seemed to be the leaders. One was older, russet skin lightly lined with age and wisdom. He was sitting in a wheelchair – that Kitty had no idea how he managed to get onto the beach. The other was a young man who had the same look as Jared and Paul – tall, muscled, but he had a stern gaze as he examined both Topher and Kitty intently. She watched something flicker in his eyes as he looked her over, and finally, he leaned down and muttered in the man's ear – and his face lit up.

He reached out, and grasped Kitty's hands tightly. "It's good to finally see you down with us, Katelyn." Kitty was surprised at the strength and warmth of his grip. But she smiled slightly uneasily at his words. He must have seen her confusion, because he patted her hand. "My name is Billy Black. I'm guessing you don't know a lot about our tribe…" he shot the man beside him a look, and he cleared his throat uncomfortably. Billy released her hands, and held out a hand for Topher to shake. "You must be her brother."

"Yes, Mr. Black. My name's Topher." Topher smiled easily, shaking Billy's hand.

Billy chuckled. "Call me Billy, please – both of you. You're practically family now." At Topher and Kitty's exchanged looks, he laughed. "As a part of coming to live on our reservation, of course." Kitty grinned at the welcome, and stepped back so that Jared and Kim could greet the man, obviously familiar with him. The tall man beside him stepped towards the siblings.

"Hello, Katelyn and Topher. My name's Sam." Kitty shook his hand, and frowned slightly as she realized he looked somewhat familiar.

"Wait!" Kitty cried, as she finally placed him. She coloured as they all looked at her sharply. "You were there at the school – when Paul almost exploded…" she finished quietly, looking down.

Sam grunted a laugh. "Good memory. Well, you four can head over to the other bonfire – I think that Kitty needs to see someone." He looked at Jared meaningfully.

Jared nodded determinedly. "Yeah, sounds good. Kim, T, Kitty?" in one swift, deft movement, he sort of scooped them all together, and turned with them, and gave them a little push towards the bonfire. Kitty shot a look back at Sam and Billy under Jared's arm, and found them watching her. She shivered slightly at the strength of their gazes, and let herself be swept up by Jared and Topher.

* * *

She had been right, it was freezing. She wrapped her arms around herself, as Jared and Topher left Kim and her on a large chunk of driftwood that had been pulled closer to the fire.

Kim cleared her throat. "So… how are you, Kitty?" she was looking at Kitty with that same strange look that she'd been wearing since Monday. Like she was expecting Kitty to keel over, and not because of her ribs.

"Again. I'm fine except for my ribs." Kitty answered slightly tiredly. "I don't get why you keep asking – is everything okay?" she eyed Kim suspiciously. "is something wrong with _you?_ You have been acting weird since Monday."

Kim laughed – and looked nervously over at where Jared was laughing with a group of his and Topher's friends. "What? Me? No, no, no. I'm really… great!"

Kitty narrowed her eyes. "Did something happen with Jared?" She gasped. "Oh my god! Did _something_ happen _with_ Jared?!" Kim looked at her in confusion, and then horror dawned slowly on her as she realized what Kitty meant.

Kim shook her head violently. "Oh god! No! Bad Kitty! Bad!" she hit Kitty on the shoulder, and glared at her laughing friend. "No. Nothing like that. Just…" she shook her head. "Just some stuff. Like tribal stuff."

Kitty sobered. "Oh, right." She shivered again. "God it is _freezing!"_ Kim looked at her oddly, and put a hand on Kitty's forehead.

"Are you running a temperature? Because its only like 66 degrees." Kim's hand made its way down Kitty's face, and then touched her neck, and she pulled off one of Kitty's gloves, and touched her hand. Her eyes widened in concern. "Oh my god! Kitty you're _freezing_! You feel like ice!"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Kitty laughed, even as her teeth started chattering., "I swear it feels like 37 degrees. I've been getting so cold all week, it's weird."

"What do you mean?" Kim asked slowly. Kitty moved closer to Kim automatically, and Kim wrapped an arm around her, trying to warm the girl.

"Well, especially at night. I can't stop shivering, no matter how many blankets or layers or how high the heating is. But I just feel cold, like all the time – sort of like its inside me? It's weird – but it only started this week." Kitty shivered violently again.

Kim hummed worriedly, and rubbed her arm. "That's awful. Um, I'm just going to talk to Jared for one second – so I'll uh, I'll be right back. I'll find you something to keep you warm, okay? Just don't move from the fire."

Kitty nodded, and hugged herself tightly. The sun was just setting, and she could feel the shivers that plagued her at night starting to creep up on her.


	11. Chapter 11

Kim tapped Jared on the arm. He turned instantly, knowing exactly who she was. Pulling him down to her height, she whispered in her ear. "It's been affecting Kitty too; she just doesn't know it."

Jared pulled back, a surprised look on his face. "Is she okay?" Kim shrugged.

"I'm not sure how much longer she _will_ be okay. She's shivering even now." Jared looked over with Kim, to where the rugged up girl could be seen shaking slightly. "she needs him, and I _know_ he needs her."

Jared frowned. "He's being stubborn. Says that he knows she won't want to see him." Kim scowled, and pouted.

"Just tell him that she needs him! That it's hurting her too, but that she doesn't know it!" Kim said, resisting the urge to stomp her foot like a child. The pair of them! She understood Kitty's aversion, considering the ass Paul had made of himself, but how didn't she notice something was wrong?

Jared threw his hands up, sensing her agitation. "Okay! I'll go tell him." Kim smiled, and stretched up to peck him quickly on the lips. Jared sighed blissfully, before jogging off to wherever Paul was skulking.

* * *

Paul could hear Jared long before he actually made it to where he was sitting. The bonfire was quite a way away from where he'd decided to sit, not trusting himself around everyone.

Around _her._

He could smell her the second she had stepped onto the beach. Sweet, like those orange blossom flowers he'd smelt once on an excursion to an orchard. He could hear her laughter as she talked with Kim, he was attuned to her. It was painful, but he'd tuned her out, and focussed his attention on the salt and sand. But she was so close, for the first time in a week.

"Hey, man." Jared clapped him on his tense shoulder, and squatted beside him. "how're you feeling?"

Paul shot him a look, that if he was at his full strength, would've been intimidating – but as he was now, it was kind of pathetic. "How do you think?" he said, voice rough from disuse.

Jared nodded awkwardly. "Listen, she needs you, dude."

Paul laughed bitterly. "No. She told me to stay away-"

"And look how well that's going." Jared said sarcastically. "You're sick, and she's hurting too, she just doesn't know why."

Paul was on his feet before he could stop himself, and almost fell back down at the wave of dizziness that washed over him. Jared put a steadying hand on his back. Paul shook him off, "I'm fine. I'm okay." He took a slow breath. "She's hurting?" he asked softly. Jared looked at him sympathetically, patting his arm gently.

"Yeah, man. She's cold, like, _all_ the time – but like painfully apparently. She needs you. She just doesn't know it."

Paul clenched his jaw. "What if she tells me to go again?"

"Don't. stand your ground. Tell her or something – I don't know. But stop torturing yourself, man, you're torturing us too." Jared gave him a little push towards the bonfire, and Paul took a few uncertain steps, before he calmed himself. His _imprint_ needed him now. He needed her.

* * *

"Hey."

The deep hoarse voice startled her, and Kitty looked up from her stare into the flames, and the shallow _freezing_ pit of self-pity she was wallowing in, and found herself looking a Paul.

A seriously half-dead looking Paul.

Kitty's eyes widened as they took in his appearance. He looked like he was struggling to keep his large form upright, and he looked almost too thin compared to her last memory of him. His russet skin, usually so beautiful looking was looking oddly pale, and his face was sallow and gaunt. Even his eyes looked dead.

"A-are you okay?" she asked him softly, concern getting the better of her. "I think you should sit down before you keel over."

He looked at her thankfully and took a seat next to her, but she could see how careful he was not to touch her. Almost instantly, she felt the oddest surge inside of her, to reach out and _touch_ -

No. What?

Kitty frowned at herself, even as a wave of violent shivers made her teeth clack together painfully.

"Shit. Katelyn, are you-" Paul's weak voice made her try and stop, tensing her muscles to the point of pain, making her ribs scream in protest.

"I'm o-o-okay. I'm fine. J-j-just a bit cold." She chattered out. Paul was watching her with so much concern in his eyes that she felt almost guilty. "but seriously. What happened to you? We-w-were you sick?"

Paul chuckled slightly. "Yeah, you could say that-" her next round of shivers broke him off. "Okay, come here."

Before Kitty could move of protest, he had scooped her into his side. As if a wave of warmth had rolled over her, Kitty felt her whole body settle. Without meaning, she leaned into him, seeking the strange heat that he emitted. His arm tightened around her shoulders.

Paul felt every ache, every pain just abate as she moved closer to him.

Kitty felt his whole body relax as he breathed deeply. Gently, she decided it would be safe to rest her head on the side of his chest as she basked in his warmth. She could hear his heart beating if she pressed her ear against him. It was racing.

Frowning, Kitty looked up, blushing as she realized he was looking down at her, a soft look in his eyes that she'd never seen.

He also looked, well, _better._

His skin tone looked healthy and almost glowing again, and even his slightly sunken cheeks looked more filled out. His eyes were sparkling with something like joy.

Kitty realized she had been staring too long when a slow smirk spread across his lips. She ducked her head, blushing. "Thanks." She said quietly, looking into the fire.

"For what?" he said, voice low and vibrating in his chest.

"Warming me up." She smiled, even if he couldn't see it. Maybe her words _had_ had an effect on him? "Why were you so sick this _whole_ week?"

He sighed, chest expanding and moving Kitty with it. "I wasn't sick for the whole week; it was also because I had some other stuff going on as well."

"Mmm?" Kitty hummed interestedly, before she blushed. "Wait, no, I'm sorry, you don't have to tell me…"

"Don't apologize, Katelyn." He said firmly. Kitty remembered the last time he'd said that and shivered slightly. He tugged her even closer, so that she was pressed up against his side completely. "I, ah, I just realized that I had said and done some terrible things, to this really sweet girl." Kitty froze. Her eyes darted around nervously, as she processed what he'd said. He had stilled as well. "And I was spending time wondering how I was supposed to make it up to her – to get her to forgive me."

Kitty hardly dared to breathe. "And… how are you going to do that? To this girl, I mean…"

"I thought I'd start with apologizing, and then maybe taking her to this _really_ nice hot chocolate place." Paul said lightly, but as he pulled back from her, Kitty was surprised at the amount of remorse in his eyes. "So… um, Katelyn. I know I've done some terrible things to you, and I know how hard it'll be for you to ever trust me again, or even forgive me, but I just want you to know that I regret everything I've done and if I could go back in time, I would do anything to stop myself, and I want to be your-" he paused for a second. "Your friend. I want to be your friend. If you'll have me."

Katelyn regarded him. She could see how earnest he was, and she knew that he really must have thought hard about what he wanted to say.

She _did_ believe in second chances.

"Call me Kitty. All my friends do."

His answering smile was arguably brighter than the fire they sat next to.

"But do know that it'll take a little for me to totally trust you, okay?" his smiled dimmed a little, but he still nodded.

"Sure. Anything." He jumped up, startling her a little. "Come on." He extended his hand, and Kitty eyed it warily.

"Where…?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Paul rolled his eyes.

"To the chocolate place. Come on, let's get out of here." He wriggled his fingers and eyebrows, making Kitty giggle. She placed her hand in his, allowing him to pull her up gently. His hand was unnervingly hot again, but she didn't flinch, even as some strange shock passed between their skin.

From his wide eyed look at their hands, she guessed he'd felt it as well.


	12. Chapter 12

Kitty bounced slightly in the seat of Paul's navy blue Toyota pickup truck. She couldn't deny it – this was probably the most 'risky' thing she'd ever done – snuck out of a party with a near stranger, and was going god knows where without telling her brother.

But there was chocolate involved.

She smiled warmly at Paul as he got in, shutting the door with a slam. He rubbed his hands together, and looked at her. "Are you cold?"

"A little, but not as bad as before – you really did the trick. With your crazy body heat." Kitty said laughingly. Paul grinned back, but she saw a flicker of nervousness before he turned away, starting the truck.

"Yep… I do run quite hot." He said, pulling out of the beach parking lot, "If I do say so myself." He winked at her, and she rolled her eyes.

"Are you always this modest?" She asked, tilting her head slightly. He laughed,

"Always."

* * *

Paul waved at a passing waitress, and she bounced over with a smile. "Hiya! How can I help you guys?"

"Can we get a booth for two?" Paul asked, fingers twitching slightly as Kitty brushed against him as she looked into the café.

"Sure can! Follow me." She bustled in, and pointed to a small red wallpapered booth, and Paul let Kitty go ahead of him. "I'll be over to take your order in a little bit." She winked at him, and Paul just smiled uneasily. Old him would've been all over the curvaceous waitress, as she looked his age. But new him, with the ultimate goal of the girl sitting in booth, just brushed past her.

He frowned as he realized that it would be tricky to swing his long legs under the small table. Kitty met his eyes, then followed his look to the small space under the table. Her eyes widened, then she burst out into giggles, covering her mouth. Despite the situation, Paul struggled to keep his annoyed scowl at the adorable sight. If a little bit of embarrassment made her happy, then he'd be dammed if he was to stop her.

He grunted slightly as he slid in, scooting around to the end of table for more room. Kitty was biting her lip to stop a smile, but was failing. "Oh yeah, let's all laugh at the tall one struggling to fit in fairy sized tables." Kitty snorted, then looked almost surprised at herself, which made Paul chuckle. "What did you want to order? I'm paying."

"Oh no! I'll pay!" Kitty said, looking at him pleadingly. He shook his head.

"Hell no. My treat. Seriously." He shook his head firmly. "Too bad, so sad, Kitty." A thrill went through him as he said her name. God he was such a sucker.

She sighed, but he knew that he'd already won. "Fine, fine. But next time, I'm paying." Paul grinned. Already planning a next time? She looked back at him, smiling softly. He could hear her heart beating, slowly speeding up.

"So, what can I get y'all?"

Paul snapped out of whatever trance her eyes had pulled him into, and almost growled at the waitress, but retrained himself. Kitty would not appreciate it. "Uh, can we get 4 of the fudge sundaes, and two of the hot chocolates, and two brownies."

Kitty looked at him sharply, but didn't say anything. The waitress raised her eyebrows, but nodded. "Sure thing, I'll be right back with your food."

She left again, swinging her hips deliberately. Paul looked at Kitty, who was watching him already. "A lot of food."

Paul resisted the urge to laugh. That was barely anything compared to what he usually ate. "Yeah, it's a little bit." Then something occurred to him. "I hope you didn't mind me ordering for you."

Kitty shook her head smiling. "Nah, its fine. I trust you to make good decisions. But I'll have to order for you some time."

Paul nodded easily, and let himself relax into the cushions, casually slinging his arm up along the back of the booth couch behind her head.

* * *

Kitty watched with wide eyes as the waitress began unloading their food. The brownies looked as big as her face. The sundaes were huge as well, the hot chocolates the only thing that was normally proportioned.

"I am going to die. I am going to fall into a food coma and die." Kitty said frankly, watching as Paul grabbed two of the sundaes. He grinned, slurping noisily.

"You'll die happy." He said smiling blissfully. Kitty laughed quietly, and cut off a corner of the brownie to eat. Paul finished his sundaes in record time, and just about swallowed the brownie whole.

"You can't be serious!" Kitty gaped, as he took her offered half brownie. "How are you not full?"

Paul barked a laugh. "I have like, a bottomless pit instead of a stomach. I could eat everything here and still be hungry." Wide eyed, Kitty pushed him her other sundae, and her half-finished one, and sat back, sipping her hot chocolate. "You sure?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm cool. You go for it, bottomless." He chuckled, and she sighed as she felt her phone vibrate for the third time. "hey, do you mind if I call Topher back?" he nodded easily, and she pulled out her phone and answered her brother.

" _kitty! Thank god! Are you okay? Someone said they saw you leaving with Paul. Did he kidnap you? Are you okay?"_ Kitty winced at her brother's anxious voice.

"Hey! Calm down, Toph. I'm fine. He just took me to get something to eat."

" _are you sure he's not holding you against your will? You hated him last time I checked."_

Kitty coloured, even though Paul couldn't possibly hear his voice. She stood up and walked a few paces away, "I never hated him." She whispered, turning away from Paul, "I just disliked him, and was a bit scared of him, that's all. Don't worry. He apologized and I'm letting him make it up to me. We're friends now."

" _Mmmhmm_." The disbelieving hum made Kitty roll her eyes.

"Toph, I promise you, I'm fine. I'll be back home at like 12:30. It's only 11:00." She hung up, and turned back to Paul smiling apologetically. He was watching her with an unreadable expression, and her face fell slightly. She couldn't hear her right? Impossible.


	13. Chapter 13

Paul was quieter on the drive back, and although it was odd, Kitty found herself thankful for the break in animated conversation.

She was tired – she hadn't slept well all week, and although she was strangely relaxed now, she still appreciated the quiet.

She was so relaxed, she didn't even think to ask him how he knew her address, but as she lay in bed after kissing her parents goodnight, she realized how weird it was.

She fell asleep before she had any other thoughts.

* * *

She spent the rest of the weekend retuning, and reuniting with her old guitar. It really had been ages. She tried composing and when nothing sounded riht, she gave up – sticking to renditions of other songs.

It was Monday again, sooner than she had thought, and for once – she realized she wasn't dreading the thought of school. Infact the thought of Paul put an odd little smile on her face she wasn't aware of until Topher pointed it out;

"Whatcha thinkin' bout?" He asked cheekily, leaning into the backseat as their mother drove them to school.

Kitty jumped, drawn out of her head abruptly. "Wh-what? Nothing!" she said too quickly. He raised an eyebrow.

"Is it that Justin boy?" he questioned knowingly. She furrowed her brows.

"What?" she asked, genuinely confused. She barely knew Justin Hailey. Sure, she had met his father at a bake stall, and spoken to him a few times around school – but nothing had progressed from that.

He looked just as confused. "Don't you know?" he laughed. "He has a crush on you! It's so obvious. Cute really."

"Who has a crush on Kitty?" Their mother asked sharply, not taking her eyes off the road, but pinching Topher to get his attention.

"Ow!" he rubbed his elbow, looking at her reproachfully. "Justin Hailey. He's a year younger."

"Oh. That's alright then."

For some reason, Kitty was vaguely offended. "What do you mean 'that's alright'? do you think just because he's a year younger I won't date him, or he won't be like boys my age?"

"No." her mother said, sounding affronted. "Well…"

"MOM!" Kitty yelled in outrage. "That's so mean – and overprotective!"

"Oh, baby. I just don't want you to get hurt." Her mother said, shooting her a smile in the rear-view mirror. "You're just too nice! Boys would just walk all over you." She said. Kitty knew she wasn't trying to hurt her, but the words stung anyway.

She huffed, and sat back, crossing her arms. Topher seemed to get that any further involvement from him wouldn't be wanted, and faced the front again.

* * *

As Kitty walked into school, she made up her mind. She would give Justin a chance – if what Topher had said was true.

She wanted to show her mother that she could handle herself. Justin was a year younger, but he hung out with the cool group of her year level. He had a bit of a reputation, and she was glad Topher had kept his mouth shut after that.

She knew where his locker was, and purposefully walked out of her way to pass by it.

He was leaning against his locker talking to a tall girl with the same russet skin as most of the other kids at the school. He happened to look up, and they made eye contact. He gave a bright smile, and almost shoved the girl off.

"Hey there." He said casually. She smiled at him, and tucked some hair behind her ears.

"Hi." She said simply. She took up the spot that the girl had just been in, and found her retreating form. "What were you two just chatting about?" she asked, batting her lashes slightly for effect.

He grinned, leaning over her a bit more. He was only a little taller than her – because she was short, but he acted like he was Paul's height or something.

God. Stop thinking about Paul.

She realized he had said something, and shook her head slightly. "Sorry, what did you just say?"

He laughed. "It's cool. I was just saying that we were talking about this English project. Really stumping me."

She brightened, seizing the chance. "Oh yeah? Well, I like English. I could always help you out." She said encouragingly, trying to do an inviting smirk. He looked at her oddly for a second, and she stopped, watching in frustration as his expression cleared.

"That would be so great. Did you want to go see a movie while we're at it?" He asked, winking.

She grinned. "At the same time?"

"Well, I was thinking maybe two separate dates." He said suggestively, biting his lip. Kitty inwardly cheered.

Hah. Take that mom.

"That sounds good to me. We can do the English tonight, and maybe go see a movie on Saturday?" she said. He nodded as the bell rang.

"Great. I'll give you a lift to yours after school. See ya." He was gone.

She nodded to herself. Her plan was in action. She headed for her own English class, slinking in as she realized Mr. Jameson wasn't there yet.

Paul was already there, and perked up as he saw her. She nodded at him, and slid into the seat next to him.

"Hey, Kitty. How was the rest of your weekend?" he asked politely, but with an interest that made it all the sweeter.

Sweeter?

Kitty banished the thought, and smiled at him with the same fevor. "Great thanks! How about you?"

"Not as great as our chocolate party, but still pretty good." He cocked his head, frowning slightly. "Were you just with that Justin kid?"

Kitty's brow creased. "Uh, yeah. How did you know?" she asked laughingly.

His eyes darkened slightly, but his smile was still in place, if a bit forced. "Oh, you smell like that cologne he drowns himself in."

Kitty giggled, and as Jameson entered sniffed herself surreptitiously. She couldn't smell anything except that orange body cream she'd put on. She frowned but ignored it.


	14. Chapter 14

Kitty followed Paul to the cafeteria, and sat next to him and Topher, who gave Paul an odd glare.

Jared nodded at Paul and smiled at her, arm around Kim, who looked at peace. Kitty grinned at her food. To think – one minute Jared didn't even know her name, and the next, they were like an old married couple.

She frowned suddenly.

It was quite weird.

"Yo! Kitty!" she looked up at the call of her name, and saw Justin waving at her, smirking. Both Topher and Paul tensed on either side of her, and she rolled her eyes at them.

"Hey, Justin!" she called back, giving him a little wave of her fingers.

"Come over here, meet the gang." He said, indicating a few of his friends, some of which she recognised from her own classes.

She looked at her friends, and decided that they would be fine without her. She stood, "I'll be back in a sec." she manoeuvred her way out from in between Paul and Topher's unmoving forms. Justin shuffled over as she approached, and she settled next to him, and he placed a hand around her to sit on her hip, uncomfortably close to her ass. She twitched slightly, but said nothing.

"Guys, this is Kitty." She smiled as they nodded and leered slightly. "Kitty, these are the guys." Justin said to snickering laughter. She frowned slightly, but laughed along.

"So, _Kitty._ " A boy with hair tied back in a low ponytail said her name condescendingly. "You coming to the party this Saturday?"

She looked at Justin, and opened her mouth to tell them about their plans. Justin beat her to it. "Actually, yeah. We were going to see a movie-" there was a chorus of 'ooohs' and he rolled his eyes, "But we could stop by." The boy who had spoken shot Justin a meaningful look, and looked between Kitty and Justin. Once again, Kitty found herself at a loss for what was happening.

"Cool." He said finally, and chatter resumed, completely ignoring her. She bit her lips slightly, at the obvious dismissal, and made to leave. Justin's hand tightened, and she looked at him. He was smiling.

"Stay here, babe." He said. She nodded, and settled back down, expecting him to talk to her. But he didn't. She sat there for the rest of lunch, shooting longing looks at her friends. Paul had his head down, and he was gripping the table tightly, broad shoulders tense. Topher was looking at him with a weirded out look on his face, and it looked like Jared was saying something. None of them saw her looking.

She sighed, and looked out at the green of the forest, just outside the school boundary.

* * *

Kitty didn't like negativity, and she hated to think the worst of people, but she really didn't like Justin's friends.

At least Justin himself was nice on their own.

"Hey, Kitty!"

She turned at Justin's voice and smiled – expression falling slightly as she noticed he was surrounded by his friends. Surely he wasn't going to bring them as well. One of them seemed to notice her change in expression.

"What's wrong with you, LPF? Got a problem with me and my boys?" he yelled, catching the attention of the stragglers. Kitty flushed, and ducked her head, shaking it. "No? Then what's the look for, huh?"

"Maybe it's because of that atrocious belt." A low voice was suddenly at her side, and she started, jumping as Paul seemingly materialised out of thin air. He raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Why don't you run along now, and find the receipt."

The boy scowled, but ultimately decided it wasn't worth it, and nudged Justin – whispering something, before skulking off with the others.

Paul turned to Kitty. "You alright?"

"Yeah, she's cool." Justin spoke for her, winding an arm around her waist.

"I wasn't asking you, doucheface." Paul scowled, and moved forward slightly.

Kitty touched his arm gently, the weird heat startling her again – but Paul looked at her, eyes wide in surprise, and something else she couldn't pin down. "I'm fine." Justin suddenly tugged her, and she went stumbling with him – and looked back at Paul sheepishly. "See you tomorrow, Paul!"

Just before they rounded the corner, Paul's face darkened, making Kitty frown as she faced the front again.

Paul was odd.

* * *

"Please, please, please!" Justin begged, making Kitty shift uncomfortably. "I seriously don't get it… if I could just look at yours from when you did it last year, then I could get some ideas."

Kitty sighed, deliberating. They really hadn't gotten anywhere and they'd been in the library for ages now. "Fine." She said finally. "I'll send you it tonight."

"Oh thank god." Justin slumped in his seat. "Thanks for your help – and it's been really fun, but do you mind if I head – I gotta meet some people." He was already rising from his seat.

"Uh-" Kitty began, but he was already waving goodbye as he left the library. "You're my ride…" She finished quietly, slumping back in her seat. She sighed, and started packing up her things, and the rubbish Justin had left behind.

* * *

Kitty pushed open the front doors of the school, and felt her jaw drop in dismay.

It was pouring rain, and freezing to boot.

And she hadn't brought her rain coat because she had thought that she would be getting a lift home.

She pulled out her phone, and tried to turn it on. The low power sign flashed at her before the screen went black again. Resigned to her fate, she sighed, turning her face to the sky and giving it a violent scowl.

With one last longing look at the warmth of the school behind her, she took a deep breath and stepped forward into the weather.

* * *

Paul couldn't ignore the chill that was creeping up on him – and a distant feeling of discomfort. It didn't take him long to realize that it wasn't his imagination – and that something was wrong with his imprint.

He was up and halfway out of the house before his thoughts properly caught up with him. He cursed at his stupidity and stomped back inside to grab his phone and his car keys.

Paul jumped in the truck, and turned on his phone; realising a second later that he didn't even have her number.

"Shit!" he punched his steering wheel angrily, making the horn go off. His wolf flared, but he shoved it aside. He couldn't exactly help her if he was a big-ass wolf.

 _What was going on?_

" _Justin_ …"

The name was ripped from his throat lowly, more growl than anything. Starting to shake – but trying his hardest to supress the wolf, he pulled out of his driveway, and started speeding towards the school.

* * *

Kitty ignored the feeling of another puddle soaking her socks, as she made her way along the pavement-free path alongside the main coastal road.

She was already soaked through, clutching her bag tightly shut so that the contents would stay dry.

A wind whipped past, sheeting the rain sideways – and making her shiver even harder.

Headlights coming round the corner made her squint and duck her head, water running down her neck.

Tires screeched to a halt, and she looked up in confusion.


	15. Chapter 15

Her eyes landed on a familiar dark blue truck.

Then her suspicions were confirmed; the driver's door opened, and an impossibly tall figure stepped out, and jogged towards her.

"Hey, Paul-"

"Get in the car."

She recoiled at his furious voice. "What's going on?"

"You're cold and wet. Just get in the car."

"How did you find me?"

Paul's form shivered as a tremor ran through him. He sighed through gritted teeth, and pinched the bridge of his nose. Then without warning, he reached out and threw her over his shoulder. She gasped. "PAUL! PUT ME DOWN!"

"No."

Kitty could swear there was a trace of amusement in his voice. She couldn't help the dark scowl that marred her face as he dropped her in the front passengers seat and shut the door before jogging around to get in the other side.

She scowled out of the window.

"Hey, Kitty."

She ignored him.

"Kitty, come on. I'm sorry."

She shivered but refused to give him the satisfaction of asking him to turn the heater on. He sighed heavily again, and there was a rustling of fabric before something warm was dropped in her lap. He must have been wearing the shirt under his hoodie. She turned to berate him.

Her mouth went dry.

Kitty knew that Paul was built – hell, the boy was over 6"4 at least, and not a beanpole – but to be close and personal with all of this… bronzed skin and cut muscle.

Well she suddenly felt more than a bit warm.

She hid her burning cheeks by pulling on his shirt. When she emerged, he was trying very hard to hide a smirk.

"Like what you see?"

Kitty swore her cheeks could fry an egg. She looked out the window again. "You know that steroids can lead to, uh, shrinkage."

Paul snorted. "I think I'm good." Kitty couldn't help but dart her gaze down. He laughed. "Wanna see for yourself?"

"NO!" she cried. "Just take me home, you irritating creature."

He laughed again, and turned on his truck, and pulled out back on the road.

With his shirt on and the heater on full blast, plus his insane body heat, Kitty's teeth stopped chattering by the time they pulled up outside her house.

The rain had stopped.

He opened her door for her, and took her bag off her.

"Paul." Kitty said, and he turned, a hand above the door handle of her house. "Thank you for driving me home."

"You're welcome." Paul smiled at her, and felt his heart skip a beat as she returned the expression. Then she shot him a suspicious look.

"But you have to tell me how you found me."

Paul hid the unease by winking at her. "A magician can't reveal all his secrets." He quipped.

She rolled her eyes, "Shut up." she tugged his shirt off, and held it out to him. "Thanks for the shirt."

"Keep it." He heard himself say. "Looks better on you anyway. And we both think I look better without a shirt."

He flexed slightly, just to see her blush again. She sputtered something unintelligible, and brushed by him to open her door.

 _God, she was tiny._

She paused in the doorway. "I'll see you tomorrow, Paul."

* * *

Kitty slept in luxuriously late on the Saturday, secure in her knowledge that she didn't have to be anywhere until 2:00, which is when Justin would come and pick her up. They were seeing Kill Bill: Volume 2, and she was determined to actually watch the movie, even though she hated Tarantino's gory films.

After a late lunch, she got properly dressed and sat on her bed, trying to finish her book she had to read for class on Monday.

She realized only after she'd finished reading that Justin was late. It was 2:30, and she knew that the movie had started at 2:15.

Maybe she'd read the time wrong.

Ignoring the slightly uneasy feeling she had, she picked up The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time she'd been reading. The book fascinated her, and she was quickly lost in the world again.

It was 3:30 by the time she was done.

She couldn't help the pang of hurt as she checked the session times and found that she had been right, and it had started an hour ago.

Then her front doorbell rang. It was loud in the silent empty house, so she jumped up, and grabbed her bag, and pulled on her shoes.

She opened the door, and saw Justin, waiting. He looked her up and down. "Finally! Come on!" he snapped impatiently, and she blanched.

"Wha- you're an hour…" she trailed off at the furious look he gave her and bowed her head. "Sorry." She murmured, and followed him to the car. He got in and waved at her to get in, revving the engine. She sat down, silently strapping herself in, and staying quiet as he turned up the music as they sped towards the cinema.

* * *

They made in time to sit down during a particularly bloody fight scene, and Justin was immediately engrossed, leaving Kitty to shift uncomfortably in her seat as the movie wound to a close.

She was hurried back to the parking lot, and then they were speeding even further from her house. "Justin, where are we going?"

"The party remember, babe?" he smiled at her winningly, and she smiled back nervously. "We're gonna be a little early to set up. I think Jack's girlfriend is there so you can talk to her."

"Oh, okay."

He smirked at something as he turned back to the road.

She frowned but settled in her seat.

 _Hopefully this would turn out okay._

* * *

Kitty liked to think of herself as a patient person.

But trying to talk to Jack's girlfriend was trying every last nerve she had.

Not only was Hannah boring and shallow, she was also vindictive. Kitty had heard at least one malicious rumour about practically everyone she knew, and had also been subjected to some very thinly veiled insults.

"Hey, Katelyn, could you please grab me another drink. Something sugar free and with vodka in it. Cider is so fattening. But you knew that!" she laughed, and Kitty stood, blushing as she put down her pear cider.

She went into the empty kitchen, looking through the back sliding doors to where Justin and a few of his friends were already starting keg stands. She sighed, and reached for the most sugary soft drink there to put in a cup, as well as the tiniest bit of vodka. _It was the little things…_

Then the door opened, and kids started pouring in.

Kitty flattened herself against the kitchen sink, eyes wide – as cheering kids, ten of which were supporting beer kegs, bounced through the kitchen. She recognised a few of them – but found no friendly faces. A girl paused at the fridge, and Kitty gathered her courage, and opened her mouth to – hopefully – make a friend. Then the music turned on. The girl whooped, and left the kitchen. Kitty was alone again, but surrounded by noise and people. She turned back to the sink. Her eyes strayed to the vodka bottle.

 _She shouldn't…_

"KATELYN, WHERE THE FUCK IS MY DRINK?"

She sighed at Hannah's screech, and picked up the bottle, and lifted it to her lips – and threw back as much as she could before her throat started burning. Coughing, she returned to the living room, clutching the bottle, and Hannah's own drink.

She shoved the cup at Hannah, and ignored her disgusted look as she turned back to her friend. Kitty wandered further into the house, up the stairs – sipping at the vodka – and into an empty bedroom. It looked like the master bedroom – as it had a balcony that overlooked the forest.

She collapsed on the bed, bringing the vodka bottle to her lips again.

She could feel her brain bumbling around in her skull, and giggled. Everything was kinda funny. But she couldn't close her eyes because…

 _Whoa._

She felt like she was spinning, around, and around, and around, and around…

Kitty stood, shaking her hair out of her eyes, and wandered over to the balcony, messily shoving the doors open, and leaning against the little wall.

Far away in the woods, a wolf howled.

Kitty laughed, and tilted her head back crazily.

Then she howled too – loud and wild.

The howl sounded again, almost like it was joining her. Her laughter broke up her answering howl.

"Kitty?"

She turned, almost losing her balance. Justin was walking towards her, and she met him halfway, letting him tug her over to the bed. He laughed as she fell back, and sprawled. "You are white-girl-wasted right now, oh my god." She laughed with him. "You having a good time, babe?"

Kitty nodded, _she so was!_ "Yeah!"

"You know what would make your night even better?" Justin asked.

Kitty missed the glint in his eye, as he lay down next to her. "What?" she asked. She couldn't believe she sounded so _slurry_.

"You and I could snuggle…" Justin said, and moved her closer. Kitty felt her eyes close, and struggled to open them – but when she did, the world looked like it was tilted crazily, as well as feeling like it. "And we could…" Kitty felt his lips on hers like she was a different person.

"Nooo…" She murmured, and turned her head. "I ffffee… kinda bad…"

"Oh, babe, I'll make you feel better." Justin groaned, nuzzling at her neck. His breath was making her stomach turn – it was cold and wet. She tried to arch away from him, but just ended up pressing her ass against him. He groaned again, "You're so eager!"

"No!" Kitty said, eyes opening and looking down at herself, where Justin's hand was creeping up her torso towards her breasts. "Justin- What are you doing?!" She couldn't lift her body away, and she couldn't yell. She felt like she was going to throw up, as his hand pulled down her top, leaving her bra exposed. "Justin- STOP!"

Dimly, Kitty heard the door slam open, but as a wave of nausea passed over her again, she had close her eyes. Justin's hand was ripped from her body, and there was a low growling, as well as Justin's frantic voice.

 _"_ Dude! I'm drunk! I thought…"

"If you say you thought she wanted it, then I'll throw you off the balcony." The voice was dangerous and low, and Kitty felt some part of her ease.


	16. Chapter 16

Paul felt, rather than saw Kitty's distress.

He also knew that he now had an audience. He lifted a finger, and put his face close to Justin's. "If I see you within ten feet of her ever again – I will destroy you." He growled. Justin shook his head madly, and Paul released his shirt front, leaving the boy sprawled on the floor, coughing.

He turned back to the door, and saw that a few party guests, and some of Justin's friends were hovering in the doorway. Justin's 'friends', looked like they wanted to intervene. Paul growled low in his throat, and shot them his best glare. They all scattered.

Kitty groaned. Paul's attention was drawn to the half-empty bottle of vodka she was still holding with one hand, and pulled it out of her grip, letting it spill out on the bed. He smiled spitefully, but the smile faded as Kitty made another small sound.

Paul could only imagine that this was her first time being drunk. She was sick. He could feel it like an ache. It was better now that he was with her, but he didn't want her in this house anymore.

Sam was mad that he'd left mid-patrol, but he'd deal with that later.

 _This was more important._

Paul picked her up, and felt his heart jump as she nestled into him with a pained whimper.

* * *

Paul shot fierce looks at anyone who looked their way as he descended the stairs with her in his arms. It looked a sight. He was shirtless – but at least he'd had the forethought to tie his cut-offs around his leg.

Without a word to anyone, he strode from the house – thanking his lucky stars that she hadn't even removed her coat. _Where could he take her?_

"I have to throw up…"

Kitty's slurred voice caught him by surprise, and so he gently lowered her to the ground. She swayed, and he held her steady, a hand on her hip. They were just in front of the tree line beside the house.

His heart panged as she retched violently.

"Let it out, Kitty…" he said – surprising himself with the gentleness in his voice. He almost rolled his eyes at himself, but was distracted as she shuddered with the force of expelling her stomach. He used one hand to gather all of her hair back, rubbing the nape of her neck with his thumb. "You're okay…"

"I can't go home…" She choked out, before throwing up again. "My mum will-" she broke off again.

"Okay. We'll sort something out – but just get as much out as you can for now." Paul said, squeezing her hip. She nodded jerkily. They stayed like that for a few more minutes before Kitty tried to move. He let her go, but had to catch her as she tried to walk straight. "Whoa! Not into the vomit!" he laughed.

She didn't respond, just let him guide her towards the trees. It was all he could think of at the moment – he felt comfortable in the woods. But then she shook her head violently. "No, no, no!" she mumbled.

"What?" Paul asked, startled.

She shook, and he didn't know if it was because of the cold air or- "It's not safe in there…" she mumbled. _Oh. Right._

Paul cursed quietly – but she was too out of it to notice. "It's alright, Kitty, we won't go in there. Let's try and figure out your parents."

"Can you- Can you text them? Tell them, tell, tell them that I'm staying with a new friend – um, Hannah?" She garbled.

"Where's your phone?" Paul asked.

"Back pocket." She said, and made no move to retrieve it. Paul sighed, and tried not to think bad thoughts as his hand touched his imprint's ass, and fished around for her phone.

He unlocked it, and went into her messages. Quickly, he shot off a message to her mother.

 _Hey mom! Feeling kinda tired, so my new friend Hannah offered to let me crash at her house. See you tomorrow xx_

It only took a few moments before her mom responded.

 _Thank you for telling me, honey. Stay safe xx_

Paul took a second to program his own number into her phone, before he tucked it into her jacket pocket. "You're covered." His response was her curling over to throw up again. "You'd better not have alcohol poisoning." He tried to joke. She whimpered and he shook his head at himself. _Idiot._

It was almost 12:30, so there wouldn't be anything open this side of town. His dad would be heading off to his night shift soon, so he could bring her to his house soon and let her sleep it off. "Alright, Kitty, we're gonna sober you up a bit."

She nodded, and he wound his arm around her shoulders, and steered her down the road.

They could walk along the beach and then up to his house.

Kitty was silent as they headed down a human-made path to the beach. Though the forest was on either side of them, she seemed calm. When her feet hit the sand, she automatically bent over, and slipped off her shoes. He let her wriggle her toes in the sand for a minute.

He didn't notice the goofy smile on his face until she opened her eyes, and focussed on him blearily. "Paul." She said.

He waited for more, but that seemed to be it. She stumbled away from him, towards the water, which was glinting with the light of the moon. He jogged after her, and caught her before she entered the water. "No swimming under the influence." She grumbled something unintelligibly at him. He grinned. "Feeling a bit better?"

She nodded, and threw herself forwards at him. "You're so big!" she mumbled against his chest. Her face was cold. Paul blinked down at her in surprise, before winding his arms around her. "Carry me, I don't wanna walk!" she grizzled. Paul automatically picked her up, and she clung to him like a koala bear, arms and legs around his torso.

 _She really had no idea about how gone he was._

Paul wondered if it was an imprint thing, doing what they wanted and feeling good about it.


End file.
